Steele to GOP critics: "Get a life" or "fire me"

Updated 2:29 p.m.By Philip Rucker
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele lashed out at critics Thursday after some prominent Republicans reportedly questioned his leadership of the party and accused Steele of focusing more on his own image than on rebuilding the GOP.

"I tell them to get a life," Steele told ABC News Radio in an interview Thursday. "I'm looking them in the eye and say, 'I've had enough of it. If you don't want me in the job, fire me. But until then, shut up. Get with the program or get out of the way.'"

Steele apparently was responding in part to a Thursday report in the Washington Times that quotes some GOP operatives as saying they plan to withhold donations from the RNC because they are unhappy with Steele's leadership. In the story, Republican critics accused Steele of spending too much time promoting his new book, "Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda," and giving paid speeches around the country.

Steele has been embroiled in controversy all week after saying on Monday that he did not believe Republicans could win back their congressional majorities in the 2010 midterm elections. Asked by Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity on Monday night whether the GOP could take back the House, Steele said: "Not this year."

Steele later backed off that claim, telling MSNBC on Tuesday that he is "playing to win." Still, his comments did not sit well with some in the party.

Steele told ABC he would grade himself a "solid B" in his first year as chairman, saying he helped the party raise $80 million, win governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia and launch a new Web site.

"A 'B' is not bad," Steele said. "I can do better."

Steele told ABC he does not represent "old Washington," which he said "kills" some in the party establishment.

Of the public criticism, Steele said his fellow Republicans should "cut it out."

"All I'm saying is 'cut it out,'" Steele told ABC. "If we have party differences that are inside the party, let's deal with them inside the party. You don't see the Democrats running around trying to beat up their national chairman or embarrass him."

I remain a strong supporter of GOP Party Chairman Michael Steele. He is a visionary, tough and fair, continually sounding a call to victory for Republicans and Americans in the coming elections of 2010 and 2012. He has been an inspiration to those of us in even the darkest days following the 2008 elections. His articles on policy and encouragement to plan for the future has been most beneficial to those of us who considering a future campaign for national office.

The time to unite as Republicans to oust a do nothing, discredited administration, while asking conservative democrats and independents to join with us to restore the nation to greatness is now.

As an Illinois Republican constantly visiting voters in Iowa and other states I realize the necessity for a united Republican party, Michael Steele's leadership is critical to our goals.

I am convinced that Michael Steele is providing excellent leadership and will be an integral component in recapturing both the Congress and Presidency in 2010-2012.

Chairman Steele, hang in there, we support your efforts, keep up the good work!

Steele's first error was apologizing to Rush Limbaugh, obviously the real leader of the party. As for Democrat vs. Republican, both parties only care about themselves and not the public. This country needs a third party...the Progressives...who realize the landscape of this country and don't answer to Wall Street.

To those of us who write comedy, Steele is a godsend. What a pathetic individual; he can't even see how ludicrous his own position is in trying to advance the firm of Thurmond, Helms, DeLay and Gingrich. Of course Gingrich defends him since he's thrilled to have an alleged African-American agreeing with his nonsensical view of the world. The Repubs. will disappear if the Dems will stop their own self destruction and get back to being the party of FDR and JFK.

"You don't see the Democrats running around trying to beat up their national chairman or embarrass him."

What did they do to Dean?

Steele is toast. The GOBs (Good Old Boys) will fire him, he'll accuse them of being racist (true), they'll accuse him of playing the race card to mobilize their ever-shrinking base of white evangelical southerners and they'll lose the next elections.

Do they really think America will have forgotten who got us into two wars and depression while fussing about gays, abortion and family values???

Fear, Hatred, Distortion, Distraction and Division is all Republicans have to offer.

Steele should never have been given the job. He has too many scandals under his belt, from his sister to Mike Tyson to catering scams and questionable campaign spending and he did nothing for Maryland. The GOP should have taken some time to select the new leader, not jump the gun because Obama was in front. The GOP jumped the gun with Palin and learned nothing from that disaster. They need someone to hold the party together, not drive it farther apart.
Hopefully we will have Romney running for president in 2012. The GOP needs to start putting him in the front more often. Promote the hell out of Romney to get your message across. Hire Pawlenty or Lindhal for Steel's job, someone with a spine that will tell Hannity, Rush, Palin, Cheney and Beck to take a hike. Those 5 are hurting the party!

Obama’s priorities of big government over national security are doing more harm than good for the American people. Democrats are either not willing or able to help jobless Americans. They are only concerned about appearance of a 10 percent unemployment that can cause damage to their socialistic political agendas.

We demand our rights as voters and urge a Republican campaign to get rid of the Obama Democrats and put responsible officials in office to fix the economy and hire back jobless Americans. Fiscal Responsible Republicans Can Do It.

To the spouter of the nonsensical belief that White Trash built America.. This Land was built upon the blood, sweat, tears.., fears, protestations, manipulation, and barbaric manifestations of vile men (and women) such as yourself who derive pleasure in shouting from the mountaintop "I am an ignorant fool.. see me roar!". You Demogouge, step aside and let the truly prepared, inspired, and inspirational speak truth.

Glad to see th eGOP purging the bad and bringing in the Good. This is why they will swamp th eDems in 2010 and 2012. The Dems do nothing and aloow criminals like Rangel and Murtha to remain in their party. The GOP is a party of Honor - they eliminate those with questionable character and no integrity.......Obama appoints them to government posts.

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Vitter, Sanford, Ensign.. etc etc..honor my foot. Who are you kidding? Both parties have their really bad boys. You guys have had a few more in the news lately. So that party of Values and Honor had better not be used in the upcoming elections. That would certainly be a lie and lies are not good platforms to stand on...

I can't understand why the Republicans can't show some bi-partinship. I thought Steele was somewhat close to this position. Even when FDR pushed for the original very controversial SS legislation he had some Republican support to draft the compromise.

steele,go back to md.where you will again be pelted with oreo cookies.you were a terrible counterbalance to the intelligent well spoken president.
the repugs feel better when you have your lips planted firmly on rush limpaws pasty white behind.
the 2010 elections are coming you clown steele will be another embarrassment to the repugs. they will lose, so will you.

If Steele represents GOP then sadly they are still going to be a narrow party. They, by their language, push moderates and minorites to the side. They will always have the south but they had better watch out. They are losing ground in some of those states too.

They remain the party of NO when we face grave health care problems. As a cancer patient, I know how cruel the health care system can be as some live and others die by the thousands due to lack of coverage or just not enough coverage.

Their two wars have caused this fall economically. One we needed to fight but we also needed to finish it and we never did. The other we had no right to begin. Now trillions of dollars later it falls to the Dems to finish. No matter which way we go on this it is doomed to failure. We will never win a war in the Middle East. History has shown us this but we continue to ignore history at our peril.

So will we elect again the very party that brought no job growth in their 8 years in office and brought us two wars???

Are folks just crazy. Do we really believe that Beck, Bachmann and Hannity and Rush are the voices of reason. What will they say when GOP comes back to office? Will they blame the last 8 years on the Dems. Obama never had a chance. The GOP knew they would not win due to Bush's record over the last eight years. That is why they put up an old man and a air head for national offices of President and Vice President.

It was a set up from the beginning. If they dont get Obama killed (Beck et al) surely they will defeat him with words of hate. If folks studied their words closely they would know how stupid and without merit most of them all.

But it seems the people of this country want the easy way, the painless way of government. Just leave me alone. No new taxes...but eh give me my Medicare and Soc. Security. Take care of me...to hell with my fellow man. We have a chance to show our Christianity in action not words but we will not do this...we will not love the least of them as Christ has loved us...so we will continue to fail as a nation and as miserable examples of Christian love. From world leaders, we have fallen in most countries eyes to a country who has lost its way.

We focus on killing and not on the living. We are very good at killing. Very good at bomb making and weapons. Not so good at keep folks alive. (See our world ranking in mortality rates per thousands ). I weep for my country. At age 65, facing cancer's ongoing problems, I know many my age not as fortunate as me to have insurance that covers most of my expenses may well be dead by now. They will never stand a chance. They were once taxpaying members of our great nation but now they face a killer beyond their means to conquer. So we turn our blind eye and let them die. We have become a country without conscience.

Steele is exactly the reason my wife and I discontinued our contributions to the GOP. He has done nothing to move the party forward! We need a lightning rod, particularly now! GOP solicitations go into the trash unopened; telephone solicitations are hung up on. We need a VERY strong replacement for him, otherwise Nobama will be back for another 4.

Except for the willfully ignorant, everyone knows Steele's GOP chairmanship is tokenism at its finest. But now the GOP has discovered he can't quit running his yap and is upset with his never-ending, mindless babbling.

You just can't beat the stupidity of today's GOP for endless laughs. Bwaaaahaaaaaa

Funny how you Liberals are the first to play the race card but have no problem using the word White Trash. Let me give you some advice you punk, it's White Trash that has overwhelming served this country from day 1.
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Still very angry, huh?

Many folks hide GUILT that way, so that's nothing new.

However, there IS the little matter of stealing land from the Indians, building railroads with slave labor, Irish workers (fresh off the steamer from the great potato famine), Chinese workers being exploited with opium, and the vast numbers of poor and oppressed workers who represent the backbone of what American was to become.

While I am aware that you feel that America owes NOTHING to descendants of slaves because YOU didn't personally own any ( though your relatives MAY have), slavery was only A COUPLE OF HUNDRED YEARSs ago and lasted for OVER A COUPLE OF HUNDRED YEARS.. it was brutal and it represented the WORST humans could do to other humans..... But in spite of all that you owe nothing, but we ALL owe a personal debt to Jesus who died on a cross TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO.

Isn't it fair to say that the Rethuglican Party is a southern White man's party? So, please explain to me what a black dude is doing "leading" this party? Guess it "seemed" like a good move after Obama was elected. Now that Obama is falling on his own sword, the likes of Steele are no longer needed, apparently.

The majority of comments here seem to assume that the Republican party is using Steele to demonstate that it is no longer racist. What else could explain elevating someone so dimwitted and mediocre? But perhaps it's the other way around: perhaps it is Steele who has embraced conservative politics because he feels ambivalent about his own racial identity. It wouldn't be the first time that a member of a historically marginalized group seeks out the very people responsible for that oppression. The only thing that explains an African-American joining the party of Jesse Helms and Trent Lott is a kind of deep self-loathing. In that sense, Steele deserves our pity more than our anger.

Correct, but parties evolve, just as the south was a democratic majority until the civil rights act. Then the white trash moved into the GOP's large, open tent.

Posted by: johnkomalley | January 7, 2010 3:04 PM | Report abuse

Funny how you Liberals are the first to play the race card but have no problem using the word White Trash. Let me give you some advice you punk, it's White Trash that has overwhelming served this country from day 1. Take your sorry AS_ over to Arlington or Quantico to see the names of those that have given it all. It is White Trash that pay's the majority of the Tax's which allows you welfare punks to keep sucking off the Government Teat to include millions of illegal immigrants. And finally, it's White Trash that is going to throw out your FFFNNNNNNNNNN Liberal Friends from Capital Hill in 2010 & 2012. Liberals Suck!

You mean the REPS that freed the slaves then gave them equal rights???? Seems to me you know as much about US history as I do.
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The Republicans of that day resemble the current GOP in not one single way. Rep and Dem roles have reversed over the years. You are, after all, talking about 140 years. Back then Democrats were the racists, and Republicans were the good guys. The Reps only ran a woman for VP and appointed Steele as tokens, anyhow. I feel bad for Steele, but he knew what side his bread was buttered on, and surely his managerial skills have been highlighted, so his next job will be a shoo-in. he's basically a good guy, despite his unsavory Republican connections.

Mr. Steele finds himself as a lightening rod in a party that is splitting into two factions - the far right, and the not so far right. Perhaps he should hang it up and let them appoint Sean Hannity or Rush or Beck or some other ideologue run the thing, or should I say RUIN the party. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan - I didn't leave the GOP, they left me.

GOP (on appointing Steele): "Look! We are not racists! We are not bigots! We are multi-cultural! We have a big tent!"

GOP (now): "Hey, boy! STFU! Speak only when you're spoken to! And remember who and what you are!"

Posted by: WhatHeSaid | January 7, 2010 2:43 PM | Report abuse

You mean the REPS that freed the slaves then gave them equal rights???? Seems to me you know as much about US history as I do about Chinese history. Maybe you should just keep your mouth shut if you really have no idea what you're talking about. The ignorance of the left is amazing. But then again it was their ignorance that gave us Odumbo. Nice job m0r0ns.

Steele's biggest problem is that he doesn't realize a party chair position has to be the most selfless job in the world. His job description is basically to do nothing for himself, and everything for everybody else. The best thing that Steele can do for himself is to behave that way, to fade into the background when not needed and to step up with money and attacks when needed, but Steele really doesn't seem to get this. Instead, he has all of the prima donna qualities of a senator, governor, or president.

Unfortunately, in the absence of any real and dynamic Republican leadership in the House or Senate, Steele basks in a lot more attention that he probably deserves, but Republicans can blame themselves for this--get some more credible, vocal, and popular party leaders than the likes of McConnell and Boehner, and Steele will be left to play second fiddle like a party chair should.

How wonderful it is to watch the Republicans shoot themselves in the foot when so many Democrats are resigning. They have enough problems already when they are so out of touch with all but the fringe right.

Hmmm ... Steele apparently thinks that he was put in place to actually think and, horror of horrors, express independent opinions. Despite being spanked by Limbaugh last summer, he still does not understand that he is expected to be the 'boy' that the Republicans put forth, but expect to be silent.

To the person that stated about Steele "The ONLY reason you even have the job is because the Repubs need a black person for show and tell." I have a question...Would you say that about the Dems and the appointment of Judge Sotomayor? Do the Dems need a Hispanic person for show and tell? My answer is no...I would say both Steele and Sotomayor went through a process and were consider the best fit for the opportunity. All this "uncle tom" and "token" talk is old school man...I hate when people say those types of things to criticize high ranking minorities.

I'm going to defend Michael Steele on this one. It is my so called Republican Legislators who are doing a poor job and not Michael Steele. You guys are spineless when it comes to dealing with the current Health Care Debate. How about taking a camera crew with you down to the negotiation room to show the US that it's actually Liberals who are negotiating behind closed doors. Let's get Liberals on camera trying to defend this process. CNN blasted Obama today for his outright lie about having the negotiations broadcast live on CSPAN. I can tell you why they don't want it in plain site. They are there making back room deals with my tax money in order to give this President a political win. They realize he will be virtually useless unless they get this past. Would you not have loved to see Pelosi & Reid when they offered $100M to CT, $300m to LA, $100M to NE? Pelosi and Reid will both go down as the worst of the worst when it comes to American Politics. Jimmy Carter, move over my man. Your now #2 on the list of worst POTUS in history. Liberals Suck!!

A year ago, many people were beggining to think the GOP would be regulated to a few towns in the South and Midwest....It appears they are gaining National momentum again. At least some of that has to be credited to Steele.

I don't know anything about this, because I haven't been paying attention to the Republicans. Until they jettison worthless people like Palin, instead of pinning their hopes on them, there is really nothing to care about. On the other hand, Mr. Obama is doing such a fine job of ruining America, it should be everyone's concern...

Great! Now the Republicans are devouring themselves. Save the rest of us the trouble. I actually hope they do fire Steele; that will send a great message to minorities (the right one, by the way) and will shift what's left of the party even closer to the lunatic fringe, i.e. Palin and the dittoheads. Easier pickings come election time.

I am a lifetime Republican and I guess I am one of the complainers. This guy is just not getting the job done. half the time what he says is non-sensical and the other half it doesn't reflect the views of the Republican party. No question this guy is more concerned about his image than he is his party. I think his behavior in this position has pretty much destroyed his career. He should not wait to get fired he should just quit because he is killing himself everytime he opens his mouth.

Whining, complaining, defensiveness, would you expect anything else from a guy who's never held a paid position in private industry? He's a loser but that's completely fitting for the GOP. Here's hoping he keeps his chairmanship for years to come.

me think - our illustrious Kenneth BLACKWELL is chomping at the bit to pick up the slack ... a real attack dog!
Our former Secretary of State [Ohio] lost to Michael Steele last time around for the RNC chair. Look out!
I hope that Mr. Steele remains put, until 2012 at least.

The democrats don't want Steele fired he is the best thing that's happened for them in a long while.Steele is a loud mouth with a pea brain. The republican's are getting what they deserve by giving him the job.

He will most certainly leave that post before he has met the goals of his agenda.Take a look at his career. He's never finished anything!! He's a nice man, I've met him as have others here, but he's a joke in political circles.

The party of NO is having an internal fight on how to say NO? The GOP fringe and their ideologues seem to be carrying the day. Killing any and all Obama proposals seems to be more important than governing the country for everyone's benefit. But then, the GOP has never been about that anyway. They want to reward their friends in business that are financing the party.
Money is more important then the welfare of the country, for both parties.

Lets get a centrist, Independent party going that abandons the fringe elements.

I'm predicting Steele to become "independent" very soon. I mean, seriously, not only was Steele a bad choice for the Republcan party (I literally LoL'd when he first unveiled his hip-hopification strategy to lure blacks to the Republican party) but he was chosen for the wrong reasons.

As someone mentioned in an earlier comment, the Republicans needed a token black guy to try to counter Obama, ("We love black people! See?" But, they kinda don't). The primary conservative mouth-pieces have been undermining Steele every step of the way. It must have killed Steele to have had to apologize to Rush for speaking his own darn mind. Yeah...Steele is about to find himself alone pretty quickly.

I have meet Mr. Steele several times in the past and found him to be a very likable, decent man. But as head of the RNC Steele is not ready for prime time so to speak. He is simply not up to the task.
The RNC will just have to look around for another black face to window dress their party.

The republican establishment wanted a token, someone to bob their head and say yesser, nossir..

It ain't happenin.... granted, Steele is not a Haley Barbour (thank heavens) or a Roger Ails...(Praise the Lord!) but he certainly gets it when he says republicans have not admitted fault and tried to correct their mistakes...ergo are not ready for leadership.

If every poster here would admit it, any republican promising smaller government and lower taxes when we're up to our keisters in debt, infrastructure way way behind other developed nations....all our competition - and getting the jump on green manufacture...they would be tarred and featherd and ridden out of town on a rail.

Most just know our Nation suffered grievious wounds during the Bush Administration, with every republican with name recognition cheering it on...

So the simplest thing in my mind is not to vote for any republican in office, wanting to be in office, donating to the Bush administration, or library, or not standing up to Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh.

A political party based on Southern white fundamentalist Conservative Protestant males should have picked a Southern white fundamentalist Conservative Protestant male to be its spokesman. If you want to have a minority spokesman, there's no minority like Southern white fundamentalist Conservative Protestant males!

I guess "Step and Fetch" Steele still thinks he is something besides the Republican Token. It's too bad that with all of the qualified minorities out there, the Republicretins pick this moron for the job. Actually, the Republicans like their minorities and women "in their place" so it's not really suprising.

commonsense, I think most of us can agree that neither Steele nor Palin are the saviors of the GOP, but Pawlenty and Jindal?? Is that really the best you've got. Obama would pee his pants if he read that.

Since when have Republicans had a problem with someone hawking their books? There have never been any gripes about Limbaugh selling his, or Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck--or the ubiquitous Sarah Palin!! That's a phony excuse. There's something else they're upset about. It could be because he hasn't wrestled leadership away from the likes of pundits like Rush, or perhaps because he hasn't sucked up enough to those people. Maybe he's standing in the way of their "be scared of minorities" and "hate the gays" route that the party has employed before. Maybe?

Michael Steele may be popular with some in the national and Maryland GOP but his name is now synonymous with sleaze among most voters in the state, esp. PG County.

His tireless self-promoting quest to become RNC Chair has obviously not benefited the moribund Republican Party. The party needs real leaders and problem solvers like Tim Pawlenty or Bobby Jindal, Republicans of untarnished character, who have worked bi-partisanly on many issues.

Mr. Steele never accomplished the only real project given to him by Bob Ehrlich--reporting on death sentencing rates by race--and merely served as Ehrlich's hatchet man. Steele's participation in Ehrlich's slimey actics in PG County, where homeless Philly men distributed fraudulent election flyers left his state's citizens with a bad taste in their mouth.

Please don't think Steele will save the Republican Party--far from it. He and Palin will bury it.

"...The ONLY reason you even have the job is because the Repubs need a black person for show and tell."

Did he (Michael Steele) actually believe that the Republican leadership were going to take him seriously? Does he still believe that they (GOP) want to be the party of inclusion? Will Steele finally take the hint and become a "maverick" like his female counterpart who continues to reap the benefits of her credibility deficit. Wake up Michael, you're still a black man and this still is America.

How unprofessional and juvenile... Why not just say, "I'm aware of the lack of trust in my leadership from certain segments of the party and our supporters. I want to assure all Republicans that I am working toward blah, blah, blah...", you get what I mean.

Mr. Steele has been a blow-hard since he started his job, I hope he stays in because he is an embarrassment to the Republicans and his pompousness (is that a word?) only adds to the fuel of what the Republican party looks like to regular folk. He doesn't even look like a Republican, he is too well dressed, but boy does he sound like one!

Posted by: katem1
well done Mr. Steele, this is probably the first thing he has said that I can actually agree with him on. The personal attacks on him by GOPers just reinforces the perception of a "whites only" GOP mentality and the whole Uncle Tom meme, which is unhelpful to the GOP but reassures the voting minoritiy groups that they did indeed vote correctly when they voted "D".
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It has nothing to do with his race.
You lefty’s have been beating him up more than anyone.
He is just starting to be a Gaffe Machine like Palin or your beloved Joe Biden.
It’s getting in the way.

Steele gave himself a B. As in Boneheaded and the Republicans, who selected him for a show and tell, are tired of playing with him because he keeps straying into places everyone wanted him out of and for making contortionist statements. Hence why he has no control over its finances.

Glad to see th eGOP purging the bad and bringing in the Good. This is why they will swamp th eDems in 2010 and 2012. The Dems do nothing and aloow criminals like Rangel and Murtha to remain in their party. The GOP is a party of Honor - they eliminate those with questionable character and no integrity.......Obama appoints them to government posts.

So does Steele last through the weekend? He cannot continue at the RNC after this tirade and the discovery that donors are literally boycotting the group because of him. Raising money is essentially Steele's only job function.

well done Mr. Steele, this is probably the first thing he has said that I can actually agree with him on. The personal attacks on him by GOPers just reinforces the perception of a "whites only" GOP mentality and the whole Uncle Tom meme, which is unhelpful to the GOP but reassures the voting minoritiy groups that they did indeed vote correctly when they voted "D".

The guy is a pompous jerk. The only reason he's gotten anywhere in the party is because it makes the party look good. An acquaintance of mine was forced to select him as an alternate to a Republican National Convention. At the convention itself, Steele spent the whole time smoozing with the VIPs and going to gala events. The person who had to invite him to the convention never got so much as a "thanks," and wasn't invited to any such events, even though he was the delegate and not Steele.

The Democrats argument for the 2010 election is that Democrats and the public want a government that works. Republicans, on the other hand, work to destroy efforts against health care, economic progress, and science. Republicans have no plan other than turning America into a nation of low-end service workers making eight dollars an hour. Their party is headed by a hack like Michael Steele who's riding the old-school and tea party factions like a rodeo cowboy who's about to get thrown off the bull.

UH, I mean god forbid a reader points this out, but do you think the Republican establishment might have a problem with your being black? Of course, it is a truism to say that blacks sometimes have problems with blacks who are Republicans but the former probably explains the latter.